Louisianans approved a constitutional amendment imposing a lifetime term limit of two terms on anyone hoping to become governor by a 56-44% margin.
Previously, a governor who had already served two consecutive terms could run again provided that they had sat at least one term out. But Amendment 4 changes that, prohibiting any elected governor from serving more than two terms.
There are only two former living governors impacted by the new constitutional amendment: Republican Bobby Jindal and Democrat John Bel Edwards. Jindal has not been in national or state headlines since 2015 when he launched an unsuccessful bid to be the Republican presidential nominee. But Edwards had recently been floated in Democratic circles as a possible challenger to Gov. Jeff Landry next year in his bid for reelection.
The passing of Amendment 4 closes the door to a possible Edwards run.
The amendment was sponsored by state rep. Mike Bayham, R-Chalmette, who told the Louisiana Illuminator that the potential amendment was not intended to target Edwards —and that he had even offered to carve out exemptions for governors who had already served in office.
But Edwards did not appear to see it that way, joking on social media that, “this is what the kids call ‘living in somebody’s head rent free,’” after the state legislature forwarded the constitutional amendment to Louisiana ballots. Ahead of Nov. 3, the Louisiana Democratic Party also came out in opposition to the amendment.
Only two Louisiana governors have served more than two terms: Edwin Edwards, who served four terms between 1972 and 1996, before later being convicted of racketeering, and Earl Long, who served three nonconsecutive terms between 1939 and 1960, the first of which was abbreviated.
